Ballet star Vladimir Shklyarov who criticised Putin’s Ukraine invasion dies in fall from building in St Petersburg

Ballet stars, and their notoriously poor balance.

Stay on the ground floor, Russians.

A nice window to the future for US citizens critical of their government... a window ripe for defenestration...

If I die mysteriously from a fall, please refer to this comment.

They don't have any budget to do it differently or it's a power move, like, it's not official but you know it?

This isn't funny.

I mean ballet dancers are known for being klutzy and prone to tripping over their own feet. Right?

Russia be slippery. My heart goes out to these rare brave souls in a land of cowards.

In another article emergency services responded with this gem.

He died a natural death. It’s not a crime.

"in an apparent suicide, putin critic ________ shot himself in the back 20 times. more at 11"

This just piles up on the reasons Russia needs to be denuclearisased, putin getting ousted, democracy installed and so on.

Good news Russias economy is in the toilet and someone has started flushing already, Ukrain will prevail and hopefully we'll have peace one day.

So many people fall from their windows or balconies in Russia that I am surprised they are still legal

How long before windows make it to the statistics of average deaths per-year in Russia?

Again? That's another reason to uninstall all windows. Especially in Russia.

As far as I read, he had a leg spinal injury and an operation scheduled (bad stuff for a ballet dancer - you can't work with an injured leg spine) and was experiencing difficulties with alcohol and painkillers (the latter for the injury). He might have felt that his career was doomed.

As far as I read, he called his girlfriend (or maybe ex-wife, as the article suggests) and asked her to visit him. When she arrived, he had already fallen.

He was characterized as optimistic and nobody had noticed a death wish. Then again, during injury, pain, inability to work, (self-)medication and maybe withdrawal symptoms, other people's predictions of character may not entirely apply to every person.

The balcony was described as not the safest place on Earth. It doesn't require a detective to suspect that being under the influence of strong painkillers might increase the risk.

He can't be characterized as an opposition figure, or a figure of power. There is no clear beneficiary or motive.

As for war and statements against it - he was an artist, a dancer in a publicly funded theatre, and limited by that in what he could say without losing his job. Since it seems that he had reasonable political opinions, inability to voice them without experiencing retribution probably didn't make him cheerful.

They really could use some railings over there.

Coming soon to a city near you!

The f'ed up Government of Putin will try the same shit in the USA.

Without Swan Lake, how can there be putsch in Kremlin? Truly, genius move.

What? No window?

[Official KGB Statement]

We are shocked - SHOCKED! - to hear that our esteemed citizen, Vladimir Shklyarov, has taken his final bow on the great stage of life. We cannot stress enough that this was an honest and completely-not-at-all-intentional incident.

It appears (and we're not saying it's a coincidence at all) that Mr. Shklyarov was simply... um, reenacting a particularly rambunctious pas de deux with the building itself. Yes, you heard us right - he was doing a dance move so dramatic, so full of life, and so bereft of any actual physical control, that it could have been misinterpreted as an "accident" (we're sure).

We've spoken to his ex-wife, who claims he was trying to "dramatically" exit the apartment by stepping off the balcony (she's a bit of a drama queen herself, we hear). But we know the truth - he was simply on a mission to break the world record for most consecutive pirouettes in a single building.

The local reports of him being "trapped" in his apartment are, of course, completely fabricated. We're pretty sure it was just a... creative interpretation of the situation (wink, wink). And as for the painkillers? Oh no, those were just a bit of a... well, we won't mention that.

We'd like to remind everyone that in Russia, we have a saying: "The show must go on - and sometimes, it's better to let the curtains come crashing down." We're confident that Vladimir would have wanted it that way.

So, in light of this tragic... event (we'll get to the word 'tragic' later), we'd like to propose an official KGB investigation into the "unlucky" circumstances surrounding Mr. Shklyarov's passing. We're sure it will be a thorough and completely-not-at-all-biased inquiry.

That picture choice tho

I know here is the place where we happily fall for these clickbaits. Sure, a lot of Russians weren't hot about the idea of invading Ukraine, but also everyone dies somehow. Just to be clear, the content of the article doesn't suggest what everyone is suggesting here. Or what? Are people supposed to be immortal as long as they criticize Putin?

Can't believe she jumped, never know who's suicidal...